Sunday, 1 February 2015

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Ministry of Health in Gaza asked the Palestinian unity government to solve the health crisis in the Strip, urging it to revise its policies towards the Strip and its health services.

The spokesman of the Ministry, Dr. Ashraf al-Qudrah, said in a statement on Sunday the government has been ignoring the cleaning companies’ financial dues, prompting them to threaten a return to escalatory measures.

He added the government is also ignoring the need for filling job vacancies in the health facilities.

Qudrah called for solving the crisis of civil servants in the health sector on the administrative and financial levels. “They have not received their salaries for eight successive months, which has dangerous implications on their living conditions and on the overall health services”. more

Thousands on Sunday laid to rest a young Palestinian man who was shot and killed by Israeli forces near Burin south of Nablus the night before, a Ma'an reporter said.

The mourners marched as the body of 19-year-old Ahmad al-Najjar was carried from the Burin mosque through the streets to the town cemetery.

Funeral-goers waved Palestinian flags, Fatah flags, and flags of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. They chanted slogans against the Israeli occupation, urging Palestinian factions to take revenge for al-Najjar's death.

"We are going to Jerusalem in millions," some chanted.

Late Saturday, locals told Ma'an that Israeli troops opened fire at a group of Palestinian youths after they threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli setter vehicles driving on a bypass road near Burin.

Al-Najjar, 19, was shot in the neck and killed and another Palestinian was lightly injured. more

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouq on Sunday lashed out against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a day after the Egyptian leader heaped blame on Hamas for their alleged support of a Wahhabi insurgency in the Sinai peninsula.

The current regime in Egypt is a "coup against the history, the ethics, and the principles of Egypt," the Hamas official said in a statement on his Facebook page.

Abu Marzouq's statement came a day after an Egyptian court declared Hamas' military wing Ezzedine al-Qassam a "terrorist group" and banned it, in what many saw as a political move.

Egyptian officials have long blamed both Hamas and their Egyptian allies the Muslim Brotherhood for the ongoing insurgency in the Sinai, even though both have denied it and the insurgency is led by an ideologically and politically distinct group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis.

"History has credited the al-Qassam Brigades with a sophisticated and civilized approach to Egyptian intelligence forces through cooperation on several thorny issues, all of which were carried out successfully without betrayal. So (how) has it become a terrorist today?" more

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and killed a young Palestinian man and injured another near Nablus late Saturday, local sources said.

Locals said Israeli troops opened fire at a group of Palestinian youths after they threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli setter vehicles driving on a bypass road near the village of Burin south of Nablus.

Ahmed Ibrahim Jaber al-Najjar, 19, was killed and another Palestinian was lightly injured.

A large number of Israeli troops rushed to the area following the shootings.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an that a group of Palestinians hurled Molotovs at "a civilian road" in the area.

Soldiers responded by shooting live fire at the Palestinians' "lower extremities," she said.

The spokeswoman said two hits were confirmed -- one Palestinian was hit in the leg and another was hit and injured. more